Lightweight King ?

Whats going on Fight Fam?

This weekend we saw Khabib Nurmagomedov (26-0, 16 finishes) maul Al Iaquinta for 2 rounds and jab his way to a landslide victory to capture 155lbs gold. 

This victory did not come without heavy criticism:

• "His striking looks horrendous, Conor and Tony could beat him."

• "Al is only the 11th ranked guy in the world."

• "Who has he beaten?"

With that said, who is the Lightweight King? Conor McGregor (21-3, 19 finishes) who was stripped of his titles and never actually lost them in a fight? Tony Ferguson (23-3, 18 finishes) who just won the Interim Champion and was riding a 10-fight win streak?

Analysis

I will now rank each man based on a set of skills.

Stand-up:

1. Conor McGregor by far has the best stand-up. He has one-punch knockout power, impeccable timing, and a full arsenal of kicks, punches, elbows, and knees to finish the fight. In fact, all 18 of his 19 finishes have come by KO/TKO. He does a good job counter-punching and typically leaves unscathed. Furthermore, he did train strictly boxing for his crossover bout with Floyd Mayweather, so he has only become better in that department.
2. Tony Ferguson in my mind ranks 2nd in this department. He has a unique set of tools like Conor. His timing and ability to counter punch is not as great but he does a great job of pressing forward. Ferguson is also relatively strong. Although he lacks one-punch knockout power, he knows how to really tally up those strikes and beat people into TKOs.
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov has not really shown his ability to sling leather. If we base it purely off of his fight with Iaquinta, he knows how to establish the jab and put together a decent 1-2 combo. One thing he did well in that fight (and I would say throughout his entire career) is avoiding the big punch. Sure he may get tagged by a jab here and there but he has always been able to move out of the way and leave unscathed.

Grappling:

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov is hands down the best grappler out of all 3 of them and I would go onto say in that division. The dude fought bears as a kid!!! But on a serious note, he has acquired all of his wins by taking his opponents down and battering them with ground and pound from the first bell to the last. People want to say that maybe his Sambo is not that good after all since Al 'defended' (Al's leg was looking sweaty, I am pretty sure Khabib's hands slipped off) a few take-downs. Do not forget the times Khabib slang Abel Trujillo and Rafael Dos Anjos around like training dummies (or any opponent for that matter).  Nurmagomedov is the real deal.
2. Tony Ferguson I would say is 2nd. Believe it or not, I was considering placing Conor 2nd as his take-down average, accuracy, and defense are almost the same as Ferguson. But metrics do not account for Ferguson's ability to utilize an opponents take-down to his advantage.  Tony excels in the scramble and has utilized the guard to his advantage. For this simple reason, I rank Tony ahead of McGregor. If you are in need of another argument, I would say that Conor was also being dominated by an underprepared Mendes and would have lost if not for Chad gassing. Many will argue Lee took Tony down and Conor was able to stuff Alverez, but I simply reply that: Lee and Alverez are top-level wrestlers but the difference was that McGregor was in Eddie's head. Furthermore, Tony has been wrestling since high school and won the NCWA Championship in 2006.
3. Conor McGregor, for the most part, has never had to fight off of his back. In the fight we see him on the ground he was mauled or choked out (Mendes and Diaz). In fairness, he was able to take Max Holloway down 5 times. In addition, Conor has been doing something right if he has only lost 3 times in 4 fights. Many people did point out that McGregor pulled a reversal on Diaz and stuffed a take-down or two of his in their second fight. BUT, Diaz was never a take-down artist or high-level wrestler. We have yet to see McGregor's full ability in regards to grappling, but from what we have been able to witness, he does not supersede Tony or Khabib. 

Submission:

1. Tony Ferguson does not promote 'SnapJitsu' for no reason. Ferguson is a black belt under 3rd-degree black belt Eddie Bravo. Ferguson has the highest submission average amongst the three men with 1.6 attempts per 15 minutes. Ferguson has also been riding on a 10-fight win streak. Of his 10 fights, 6 of them have come via submission. In fact, many people argue that it is Ferguson's BJJ Khabib needs to be aware of.
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov has won 2 of his 10 fights and 8 of his 26 fights, in the UFC and in total, respectively. Now those are not astonishing numbers, but he has far more submissions attempts and victories than McGregor. Furthermore, his ability to work and control on the ground provides him with more opportunities to sink in submissions.
3. Conor McGregor has 1 submission win in his entire career. At the same time, his only 2 losses have been via submission. We have not had a great chance to see McGregor's abilities on the ground (sinking in/defending the choke), BUT, from what we have seen, he does not stack up to Tony nor Khabib.

Durability:

1. Draw because it is hard for me to gauge this. The immediate thought would be Tony Ferguson because his fights are always bloodbaths. At the same time, Conor McGregor has shown grit in his battles with Nate Diaz and Chad Mendes. Khabib Nurmagomedov has never been in any wars because he dominates all of his opponents. Therefore, it is unfair for me to really rank anyone in these categories.

Cardio:

1. Khabib Nurmagomedov & Tony Ferguson both have fantastic cardio. Khabib as always goes out every round and continuously controls his opponents, raining down hammer fists and uppercuts. Tony Ferguson goes out every round and looks to beat his opponent up, throwing strikes as hard and moving as fast as he does in the first round.
2. Conor McGregor, in my opinion, does not stack up to Khabib and Tony in regards to cardio. In his defense, the fights he has gassed in were against Nate Diaz at 170lbs. When a fighter moves up in weight (assuming they put on more muscle), it takes more 'gas' to fuel the 'engine'. But if I am basing this opinion off of those fights and the fact he spent nearly $300,000 to prepare for Diaz-McGregor II and still gassed, I would rank him below Khabib and Tony.

Mental Warfare:

1. Conor McGregor is the master of this category. Not only is he better than Khabib and Tony at this, he is arguably the best in all sports today. Conor knows how to beat his opponents before they step foot in the octagon and to me that is his true 'x-factor'.
2. Khabib Nurmagomedov is not even a trash talker. But the fact that he does not trash talk, and rather states what he will do, I believe, is what makes him intimidating. For example, in his press conference with Max Holloway, he did not diss Max. He simply stated facts: 1) Holloway has not been training 2) Holloway has never fought a wrestler like Khabib, but Khabib has fought a deadly striker in Edson Barboza. Khabib gives off a vibe similar to that of the Terminator.
3. Tony Ferguson if you see this, I do not mean to offend you. But Tony's way of trash talk is very 'cheesy' and it makes me cringe. It is almost funny and I believe most athletes tend to dismiss his 'trash talk'. Ferg, you're a phenomenal athlete for sure, but please work on this aspect of your game.

Conclusion

As you know my Fight Family, this is strictly my opinion. I must say, after analyzing their strengths and weaknesses, Khabib Nurmagomedov fairs the best against all three men. He is an extremely dominant wrestler (he wrestles bears and Daniel Cormier, C'mon!), has great cardio, good enough head movement, and he is simply intimidating.  

Tony Ferguson is the overall best well-rounded fighter. But I just don't see him beating Khabib more often than Khabib beating him. I do however see him beating McGregor if he can withstand the first 2-3 rounds.

Conor McGregor can definitely plant Khabib and Tony on their 'donkeys' and get the finish. I would still like to see McGregor's ground game and more importantly his ability to stuff the takedown. If he can stuff Khabib's takedown attempts in a fight, he will automatically be number 1 on my list and in my mind.

What are your thoughts on my analysis? Who is number 1 to you? Ask me questions, and let me know what you would like my opinion on next!

Keep it real Fight Fam ! Be easy ;-)  

-PC